The Government announced these reforms on 6 August 2023. These measures are now law.
Promoter penalty law reform
The amendments:
- increase the time the ATO has to bring an application for civil penalty proceedings to the Federal Court of Australia
- increase the maximum penalty applicable
- expand the application of the promoter penalty laws.
This will improve the ability of the ATO to target promoters of tax exploitation schemes and seek the application of civil penalties.
Extending tax whistleblower protections
The amendments extend existing whistleblower protections to a new range of disclosures related to potential misconduct by tax practitioners, including disclosures to the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB).
The TPB and Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) will be prescribed as eligible recipients, improving information sharing within the regulator community.
Information sharing changes
The amendments allow taxation officers and TPB officials to share protected information with:
- Treasury about misconduct arising out of breaches or suspected breaches of confidence by intermediaries engaging with the Commonwealth, and
- prescribed professional disciplinary bodies to enable them to perform their disciplinary functions.
More information